The next few days went by like any other. Automatic and mundane. It's a routine practically every person had gotten used to. Get up, eat breakfast, go to school, head home, eat dinner, and then go bed. For Arnold Shortman, his life would be just like everyone else', were it not for one pestering problem.

"I'm telling you, Gerald." Arnold said to him as they headed down the hallway to their lockers. "Rodrigo does need help. He's hiding something. I just know he is."

Gerald responded. "Arnold, did it ever occur to you that there are some people that just don't have a problem, at least not right now in their lives?"

"Of course." Arnold agreed. "I don't expect people to have a problem each and every second in their lives. It's just that with Rodrigo, I think he is hiding something and not telling anyone. Think about it. He just recently moved here, he had to say goodbye to all of his friends back in LA, he doesn't know anyone, he's doesn't know where everything is, then he had those two big fights with Helga and Rhonda - not exactly a nice start. How can you go through something as big as moving away and meeting new people and not ask for help?

"He hasn't asked for help," Gerald then asked, "or he hasn't asked YOU for help?"

"What do you mean?" Arnold asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Arnold how do you even know he even has a problem?" Gerald asked him. "I mean, what evidence do you have?"

"Um well," Arnold replied, "I don't really have any evidence per se. I just have this feeling. You know, like a sixth sense about these things."

"Uh huh." An unconvinced Gerald said. "You know what I think?"

"What?" Arnold asked him.

Gerald responded. "It seems to me Arnold, that you're more preoccupied in wanting to believe that something is wrong in his life than you actually wanting helping him. Maybe you're just overthinking this whole 'I gotta help everyone' crusade and just believing there are things in people's lives when there aren't any."

"Oh come on Gerald," Arnold countered, "That's ridiculous. I'm not doing this for the popularity. I would never let that get to me. And it's not just some random feeling that I have. I have the same feeling when I see others in trouble, including you and Helga. Even though you both denied it, I knew in my gut that something was not right."

"Hm, point taken." Gerald agreed. "But you did also see that Helga and I acted strangely or were in distress. So, it wasn't particularly hard to see that we needed help. I don't see that in Rodrigo."

"Maybe he's hiding it well." Arnold countered. "You both initially did hid it well."

Gerald said nothing and merely looked at Arnold with a still unconvinced look.

"Look," Arnold then spoke again. "All I am saying is that I believe Rodrigo is in trouble and he needs help. He's been awfully quiet for a while. He hardly talks to us, let alone hangs out with us."

"Uh, you do know he has other friends besides us, right?" Gerald pointed out.

"I don't think it's that." Arnold dismissed it. "Something is troubling him and I'm going to find out what it is."

"Whatever you say, Arnold." Said Gerald with a sigh as they continued walking. "Just to humor myself, how exactly are going to find out?"

"I haven't gotten that far yet." Arnold admitted. "But I'll think of something."

"I have no doubt you will." Gerald indulged in the idea with him as he padded him on the shoulder.

The next day…

As the next day came, Arnold had thought of an idea. Seeing as how Rodrigo wasn't opening up to him, he figured that it's probably because Rodrigo didn't trust him. Understanding the crucial importance of trust, he came up with the idea of getting Rodrigo to see him how he handled with other people's problems.

So, as soon as he entered the school that early morning, Arnold quickly made his way to where Rodrigo was. But he didn't approach him. Instead, he waited to the side for something to happen. Sure enough, as expected, kids soon began to seek him out for his wisdom and gathering around him. Arnold ensured everything was done in an orderly fashion, but he made sure Rodrigo also saw him in action. As luck would have it, Rodrigo noticed and even more encouraging, went to the gathering crowd to witness Arnold in action.

Great! Arnold thought excitedly. He's coming here.

Arnold saw him coming but pretended he didn't see him.

"Okay, you can go first." Arnold said as he pointed to the kid closest to him.

Arnold watched Rodrigo from the corner of his eye, but he knew he needed to focus on helping the kid. After all, it would be counter productive if he failed to properly address the kid's concern while Rodrigo watched.

Arnold spent the next several minutes helping out any kid that needed some advise. He concentrated on the task at hand, but once in a while looked toward Rodrigo's direction, hoping to see if he got the idea. Rodrigo however just stood there, watching with more amusement in his face if anything else. Not wanting to give up hope, Arnold doubled on his efforts.

After several more minutes passed, Rodrigo eventually grew bored by the spectacle and soon left the crowd to go somewhere else. Arnold was busy speaking to someone and didn't initially notice. However, after a he was done, he turned the corner and saw Rodrigo gone. Disappointed, but still not giving up, he resolved to find some other way to get through him.

The next day Arnold, Rodrigo and all of their friends met up at Gerald's Field to play some Baseball. However, Arnold arrived early with Stinky, who needed some advise. Rodrigo was also there and Arnold found the moment as a perfect opportunity.

What better way to get Rodrigo to trust me than for me to help one of our friends? Arnold thought.

"Hey Arnold!" Stinky called out to him, getting his attention.

"Huh?" Arnold snapped out of his train of thought. "Sorry Stinky, what did you say?"

Stinky responded. "I asked if you are ready to help me with my problem."

"Oh right." Arnold said. "Sorry Stinky. Yes, let's start before everyone else shows up."

Arnold then proceed to listen to what Stinky had to say and helped him accordingly. He peeked out to glance at Rodrigo from time to time to see if he was listening in. Much to his dismay, he wasn't. The Latino Kid was in fact practicing his throw whilst talking to Sid. That unnerved Arnold and made him frown at bit. But, he then quickly went back to helping Stinky.

Two days later

Arnold entered the school building determined to speak to Rodrigo. He had spent the last few days trying to get his attention and convince him that he can be trusted with whatever secret he was hiding. However, Rodrigo either didn't notice him or when he did, didn't 'encourage' him to approach Arnold for his aide.

Seeing as how futile his endeavors were, Arnold walked up the school stoop and entered the building and just resorting to plainly ask him. He scouted the hallway looking for him, but he was nowhere to be found. However, after looking for a little while, he eventually found him by the water fountain, drinking alone. Seeing this as his cue, Arnold went straight for it.

"Morning Rodrigo." Arnold politely approached him with a smile.

"Morning Arnold." Rodrigo greeted him. "I'm glad you here. I need your help."

"My help? Really?" A shocked and now excited Arnold almost exclaimed. "I-I-I mean uh sure." He gathered back his composure." Whatever you need help with, ask why."

"You got an extra pencil?" Rodrigo asked.

"A...pencil?" A dismayed Arnold confirmed with him, to which Rodrigo just nodded.

Arnold could hardly contain his disappointment as he reached inside his backpack, grabbed his pencil case and pulled out one extra pencil for him.

"Here." Arnold said with almost no enthusiasm in his voice.

"Great. Thanks Arnold." Rodrigo said with a smile as he grabbed the pencil and was about to make his way to class when,

"Hold on, Rodrigo." Arnold called out to him and got him to stop. "Isn't there something else you want to talk to me about?"

"Like what?" A confused Rodrigo asked.

"About anything that has been bothering you." Said Arnold.

"Huh?" said Rodrigo, now even more confused. "What do you mean? Nothing has been bothering me."

"Are you sure?" Arnold asked. "Are you sure there isn't anything going on that you want to talk about?"

Rodrigo was by now becoming increasingly confused with Arnold's behaviour. He wasn't understanding why Arnold kept assuming there was anything bad going on in his life.

"You have it all wrong, Arnold." Rodrigo countered. "I don't have anything going on in my life that I need help in. I don't know what you have heard about me, but I can assure you that you were misinformed."

"No one told me anything." Arnold clarified. "I can tell when someone is in trouble and I'm trying help you."

Now Rodrigo was even more surprised as well as feeling uncomfortable.

Okay, this is getting creepy. He thought.

"Sorry Arnold." He said as he adjusted his backpack. "But you must have the wrong person. I'm okay in my life and I don't need help."

Not wanting to drag on in the conversation, Rodrigo simply turned around and walked away, leaving a frustrated Arnold alone in the hallway.

"Oh man." He groaned as he watched Rodrigo walk away. "Why won't he just tell me what's wrong?" He said to himself. Just then,

*RRRRiiinnngggg*

The school bell rang, signaling that class was about to start. Arnold hurried to class, but did not stop thinking about his predicament with Rodrigo.

I'm not giving up on him. He thought. He is in trouble, but he is in denial. That step is always the hardest to break, but I gotta keep trying. He needs my help.

The next day…

When Arnold woke up the next morning, he did not wait for a few days to pass by. This time he would would confront Rodrigo again. He didn't really have any other alternative but to be direct with him. He had attempted several times to give him subtle hints about his ability to help him, but the Latino Kid either didn't see it, or as Arnold came to believe, refused to ask him for help. He had thought about perhaps following him in order see what trouble he was in, but he declined to go along that route. Apart from not wanting to be some sort of a stalker, Arnold had no good reason to follow him. Rodrigo had been showing up to school or hanging out with them like any happy-go-lucky kid, seemingly free from any worry, which only caused Arnold to worry more. He just didn't buy it. But he didn't think stalking would divulge any information about him. The Latino kid wasn't being strange, nor did he seem to hang out with any suspicious crowd. Heck, Arnold actually did follow him to his house one day after playing at Gerald's Field, only to come up with nothing. He had no leads and stalking someone for long periods of time, as someone he knew once told him, would increase the chances of being found out.

This didn't really made Arnold feel any better. As he grabbed his bag and headed out of the boarding house, he became ever more determined to get Rodrigo to talk. However, he also knew that it would be beneficial to speak to him alone, without drawing any unwanted attention. It would just make things easier.

With that, Arnold met up with Gerald, Phoebe and Helga at the bus stop and carried on his day like it was any other day. He saw Rodrigo from a distance, but kept his cool and ignored him. It was only after they arrived at the school and everyone got out that he saw his chance.

"Hey, Rodrigo." Arnold called out to him as he stopped out of the bus behind him. "You got a second?"

Rodrigo turned to face him, but was hesitant to whether or not to talk to him. The Latino Kid was still uncomfortable from their last encounter and he feared Arnold was attempting to talk to him about something that wasn't really there. But then again,

Maybe he wants to apologize. Rodrigo thought. Or talk about something else.

"Sure". Taking a chance, Rodrigo agreed.

Arnold couldn't help but let out a small smile and gestured to him to go somewhere else. Rodrigo followed him, but they didn't go far. They stayed close to the bus as the rest of the students got out and headed straight into the school building.

"Look Rodrigo," Arnold wasted no time and began to talk. "I'm sorry if I came a bit strong at you yesterday. I didn't mean to freak you out."

Rodrigo felt relieved when he heard his apologies.

"It's okay, Arnold." Rodrigo said to him.

"It's just that I had no other way to reach to you and get you to open up." Arnold continued. "I've tried sending you subtle messages, approached you several times, but you still seem unable to open up."

That relief was short-lived.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up there." Rodrigo then interjected. "What are you talking about? Open up to you about what?"

"Rodrigo," Arnold then calmly said to him. "I already know, okay? Don't ask how I know, I just know. But don't worry, it's okay, really."

Rodrigo sat silent for a bit, looking exceedingly confused.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Th Latino Kid said to him.

"Rodrigo, you don't have to hide anymore." Arnold attempted again. "It's okay. It's okay if you are facing certain challenges in your life, we all do. And there's nothing wrong with admitting it to someone, especially if the person wants to help."

Now Rodrigo looked even more confused.

"Dude, I really have no idea what you're talking about." He said to him, now looking increasingly uncomfortable. "I don't know what you heard, or who put you up to this, but whatever it is, this is not funny."

Man, he's really not budging. Arnold thought.

"No one put me up to this." Arnold confirmed. "And I'm not joking around. I'm actually trying to help you."

"Help me with what?!" A frustrated Rodrigo exclaimed.

"About whatever is bothering you." Arnold calmly replied.

"Nothing is bothering me, Arnold!" Rodrigo exclaimed. "Dude, you've been hassling me for days about getting me to 'spill' whatever problem you think I have, but I'm telling you right now, I'm okay! Actually, as I told you that before, I don't have anything going on in my life want warrants any kind of intervention."

Arnold couldn't help but let out a bit of a disappointed sigh. He clearly wasn't going anywhere with this, but he didn't know what else to do but to keep on pushing him.

"Oh come on, Rodrigo!" Arnold exclaimed. "It's obvious you have something hovering over your shoulders and you want to get rid of it."

"I don't have anything!" Rodrigo angrily exclaimed. "And even if I did, it's - "

*Rrriinnnggg*

The bell suddenly rang, signaling that class was about to start.

"Look, let's talk about this later." Arnold said as he began to talk toward the building.

"There's nothing for us to talk about." Rodrigo quickly countered. "I don't have a problem, but it looks like you do."

"What?" A surprised Arnold said, so much so that he actually stopped walking. "What do you mean by that?"

But Rodrigo had no desire to continue on with this conversation and simply started running to 1) get to class on time and 2) to get away from Arnold.

Arnold, now feeling a bit angry over Rodrigo's ungratefulness, stood there for a second before coming to and then making a run for it at well.

What does he mean that I have a problem? He thought to himself. I don't have a problem. He's just really in denial that he doesn't know what he's talking about.

Throughout the rest of the day, Arnold kept his distance from Rodrigo, which suited the Latino Kid just fine. He had hoped that Arnold had finally gotten the message and he would stop hassling him. Unfortunately, Arnold had not such inclinations. He was every bit as determined to get Rodrigo to finally reveal what has been bothering him. However, he wanted to do it in private again and not in front of their friends. He even refrained from saying anything about his little encounter with Rodrigo to Gerald.

Once the bell finally rang, all the kids in the school began to walk out of their class and headed straight to their lockers, get their stuff and then head home. Arnold was among those kids, but he had no intention of going home that day. Rather, he quickly made his way to his locker, but not before telling Gerald and Helga to head home without him as he had 'unfinished' business. Helga and Gerald are a bit confused and curious about what he meant, but they didn't want to question him further. Both pre-teens were too eager to get out of that place to start questioning him.

Once Arnold said his goodbyes, he ran down the hallway to look for Rodrigo. Thankfully, he caught up with him just as he was opening the door to get out of the building.

"Rodrigo!" Arnold called out to him from behind, prompting Rodrigo to turn around.

"What do you want, Arnold?" Rodrigo bluntly asked him, clearly not happy to see him.

"We're not done talking." Arnold said to him as he approached him.

"Yes we are." Rodrigo firmly countered and attempted to walk away, but Arnold followed him.

"Rodrigo, if you can just tell me what's wrong-" Arnold attempted to talk.

"Haven't you been listening to me?!" Rodrigo, now angrily exclaimed at him. "I said there isn't anything wrong in my life! And it is not yours to butt in!"

"Rodrigo, I'm here to help you." Arnold insisted. "You can trust me. So many others trust me. Just tell me what's-"

"Look Football Head!" Rodrigo angrily yelled at him, this time calling out his insulting moniker that it even stunned Arnold.

Paralyzed with shock, Arnold stood frozen when he heard Rodrigo call him 'Football Head'. No one, other than Helga, Wolfgang and few other adversaries had ever called him that and he wasn't sure what to make of it. All he knew is that it brought a cold, uncomfortable, even scary feeling down his spine. But, he had little time to ponder about it because Rodrigo continued to yelled at him.

"I'm tired of this!" Rodrigo exclaimed and walked a bit closer to him. "I'm tired of you hounding me, I'm tired of you assuming there is anything wrong in my life, but I'm especially tired of you sticking your nose where it doesn't belong! It's not your business what goes on in my life!"

"Rodrigo," A still stunned Arnold attempted to say something. "I-"

"Why are you hounding me over this?" Rodrigo cut him off. "Why are you interrogating me and trying to get me to 'confess' about something that isn't even there?!"

Arnold was about to say something but Rodrigo again cut him off.

"You coming to me," He angrily said to him. "assuming that something is wrong, despite how many times I said otherwise, is not only rude and insulting, but it makes me think you actually want there to be something wrong."

"That's not true!" Arnold firmly exclaimed, getting visibly upset at Rodrigo's accusation. "I would never wish for such a thing. That's not my intention at all. I just want to make sure you are alright."

"I don't buy that." Rodrigo countered. "If that were really true, you would have listened to me when I said that I am doing fine. You would have noticed my behaviour is anything but suspicious or mischievous. But instead you ignored all of that and convinced yourself to see things that you want to see. You weren't inquiring for my benefit, but for yours."

"That's not true at all!" A now angry Arnold yelled at him. "How can you ever say such a thing?!"

"Oh please." An undeterred Rodrigo said as he rolled his eyes. "I'm not an idiot. I know practically every kid in school has come to you for advice, except for me. I know that you know I haven't come to ask for any advise or help and you can't stand that. You can't stand people not coming to you for help. It confuses you, makes you doubt just who you really are. You need people to come to you for help. It's in your nature."

Arnold could not believe what he had just heard. What Rodrigo was saying to him shocked him so much that it rendered him speechless. But Rodrigo wasn't done.

"I've only known you for only a short amount of time," He said to him. "but it doesn't take a genius to know that you get off in seeing the misery in other people's lives, just so you can feel 'special' by trying to be everyone's savior. That's very selfish of you."

Arnold had no idea on what to say, let alone react to what he just heard. It was not only hurtful, but it made him deeply angry. It not only shook him to the core, but started making him question everything about who he is and what he has been doing.

"You are just twisting everything about me!" He angrily yelled at him. "You don't know anything about me and the things that I did for people. I don't go around asking people to see if they need help; they come to me!"

"Exactly." Rodrigo pointed out. "You've established a reputation for being the person with all the answers to everyone's problems that you don't need to seek people out. You get a kick in seeing them coming to you to fill your own ego."

"That's not true!" Arnold angrily exclaimed.

"Oh it is." Rodrigo countered. "I've seen you countless times sitting on the bus or by your locker, happily waiting for people to approach you with their issues. At first I thought it was just you getting used to people coming to you, but in the last few weeks, I've noticed a change in you."

This time Arnold didn't protest and anxiously waited for Rodrigo to explain what he meant by that.

"I've noticed every morning you would smile from the moment you see people come to you. But it's not some type of innocent smile. Rather, it's an arrogant smirk. It gives off this sense of superiority you have over others."

"What?!" A highly shocked Arnold exclaimed.

"And it's not just your smirk." Rodrigo continued. "It's your entire mannerism. You just stand there waiting for people to greet you, like you are some high, mighty king or something. You stand there tall and proud at what you've accomplished for yourself; a cult following."

Arnold's face turned from shock to outside horror. What he was hearing was so inconceivable, so horrible that it was actually making him sick.

"At first, I thought I was seeing things." Rodrigo continued. "I couldn't believe someone like you would ever act like that. For a time, I was in denial. But when you began to harass me, that's when it hit me. I realized that even though you started out to genuinely help people, you changed man. You're now doing all of this just for your own pleasure. And you wanting there to be something wrong in my life, just so you can continue to feel all high and mighty superior, confirms that. You don't care about me at all. You just want to use me."

That last thing Rodrigo said shook Arnold even more. It even made his knees weak, but Rodrigo wasn't done.

"Don't deny it, Arnold." Rodrigo continued. "It all makes sense now. You didn't make any effort to chase after anyone, not even your friends, except me, because I wouldn't succumb to your whims."

"T-That's because I wanted to say if you are actually okay!" Arnold then quickly and angrily yelled at him. "But clearly I was just wasting my time with you." He resentfully said to him.

Rodrigo was a bit taken a back by the last thing Arnold said. But, he wasn't surprised at his reaction. Hence, he instead is nothing and just sighed. Seeing that he wasn't getting through to him,

"Whatever you say, Arnold." He said to him before turning around and walked away, ending their conversation.

Arnold made no attempt to stop him and just watched him leave with a highly irritated and angry look on his face.

I can't believe how ungrateful he is! Arnold thought to himself. I try to extend my hand and offer him my help, but instead of accepting it, he bites it right off!

Arnold waited until Rodrigo fully left before he began to make his way home.

"He doesn't know anything about me." Arnold began to mutter to himself. "He said so himself, he's only known me for a short period of time. No where near enough to get to really know me."

As Arnold made his way home, there were so many things running through his mind, so many things he was feeling at the moment. Shock, confusion, anger, hurt were just some of the things he was feeling. But it was shock that he was feeling most at that moment. No one, safe for perhaps Helga, had ever talked to him like that, let alone make him out to be more of a egotistical selfish person than a kind, caring person that just wanted to help people.

"That's right. He doesn't know anything about me." Arnold continued to angrily grumble as he continued to head home.

Arnold ended up catching the recent bus, paid the fare and made his way to a seat. He managed to stop muttering to himself, but it was still furious. He tried to shove it away from his thought, but he couldn't. It just kept coming back to him, refusing to leave him be, which only made him angrier.

"Not even Helga has ever spoken to me like that!" Arnold then angrily blurted it out.

By the time he got home, Arnold managed to calm down a bit, at least enough to stop blurting things out. He unlocked the door, let the pet animals ran out and then went inside.

"Hey there, Shortman!" His grandfather happily greeted him. "What took you so long to come back? Missed the bus?"

"Hey Grandpa." Arnold unenthusiastically responded to him. "I stayed back to have a word with Rodrigo. That didn't go so well…" He angrily muttered.

"Oh yeah, what about?" Phil asked him. "Hope it isn't that whole different taste in music again, is it? You guys completed the project already for crying out loud! Time to bury the hatchet."

"No, not about that." Arnold said as he took a few steps up the stairs.

"Then, what about?" Phil asked him. "I don't mean to pry, but you seem a bit upset about it."

"Get this Grandpa." Arnold then took the opportunity to speak to someone about it. "You won't believe what that kid said to me!"

Arnold wasted no time and told Phil everything that had been going on. He explained to him how he thought something may have been bothering Rodrigo and the attempts he made to get him to open up, only to be rebuffed and then later severely scoffed at. Arnold made no attempt to hide the bitterness and anger he felt at the way Rodrigo spoke to him.

"And then he had the audacity to tell me that I'm only helping people out for my own self-pleasure!" Arnold exclaimed. "Can you believe that?! As if I want people to randomly approach me every single day, asking me questions that are half the time not even serious, life-altering questions. I can't even just sit on the bus and talk to my friends like any normal person. I keep getting pestered by all of the kids at our school and yet, despite all of that, I still make time for them and help them out as much as I can. Yet somehow, Rodrigo thinks that's me being selfish! Ugh, I believe that guy!"

Phil stood there silently and listened to Arnold's rant. He made no attempt to interrupt him throughout. He understood that this was something that was very much bothering him and realized he needed to let it all out. Hence he just stood there, with his hand on his chin and the other on the other side of his torso. He waited for Arnold to be done, which only then did he finally say something.

"Hm hm." He said with a nod. "And how do you feel now?" He asked him.

Arnold was a bit taken aback by Phil's question. He at first was going to respond, but then closed his mouth when he began to self-reflect a bit.

"Well," Arnold then calmly responded, "I feel a bit better now."

"Good." Phil said with a small smile. "Because you're not going to like what I'm about to tell you."

Arnold wondered what he meant by that and so waited for him to continue.

"I think Rodrigo maybe on to something." Phil then said.

"WHAT?!" A stunned Arnold shouted.

"Now, now," Phil then attempted to calm him down and explain, "don't get your pants in a twist. I don't condone the way he talked to you, but he did have a strong measure of truth in what he said."

"How can you agree with him, Grandpa?" An angered Arnold asked him.

Phil responded. "Well first off, you said so yourself that you don't enjoy having a bunch of random kids coming to you to ask for help for their every-day problems. Based on the way your talking about it, you seemed pretty annoyed by it, is that no so?"

"Well," Arnold managed to calm down and respond, "yeah."

"Well then," Phil then continued, "since you clearly don't enjoy the popularity, there has to be something about it that you like; otherwise you would have just told everyone to go away a long time ago. But you haven't done that. Instead, you just continued trying to help them."

"Well," Arnold grudgingly acknowledged, "if you put it that way, yeah."

"So the question I have for you is; what is it about it that you like?" Phil asked him.

Arnold said nothing and just quietly stood there as he thought about it.

"Well," He cautiously began to say, "I guess I just like helping people. I don't like always getting hounded, but I do enjoy helping them. I get some sort of satisfaction when I see the smiles on their faces, proof that I helped them."

"Very good, very good." Phil said. "So there's your answer."

"But that's not the same, Grandpa." Arnold quickly countered. "Rodrigo said that I'm taking advantage of people's problem for for my own enjoyment and ego, not for the sake of those I'm helping. But it's the exact opposite. I'm helping people for their sake. The byproduct of that is that I enjoy doing it. It comes after."

"I don't see the difference." Phil said. "Whether it's after or before, makes no difference in my opinion. You can't do things unless you enjoy doing them, otherwise you just wouldn't do them."

"So you're saying that in order for me to help people, I have to have this desire to want to do it?" Arnold asked him. "That I'm satisfying something that I want from them?"

"That's what it looks like to me." Phil responded with a shrug.

"That's-That's crazy, Grandpa!" A shocked Arnold exclaimed. "I can't believe you would say something like that."

"Hm, it's just human nature, Arnold." Phil casually said with a shrug. "There's nothing wrong that. On the contrary, it's what pushes us to do things. I'm not sure which comes first. It's like the whole chicken and the egg thing. But what I do know is that you need both the chicken AND the egg. Can't have one without the other."

Arnold could not believe what Phil was saying to him. For the second time in one day, the revelation shook him to the core.

"No!" Arnold firmly countered. "I can't believe that. I won't believe it! That's not who I am. I help people because it's the right thing to do! I don't do it for my own personal self-enjoyment or ego."

"Now hold on there Shortman." Phil then attempted to calm him down. "There's a big difference between doing something purely for your own ego and self-enjoyment and doing it because you enjoy what you are doing for those people."

"Aren't they the same?" Arnold asked him. "I don't see the difference."

"I-Uh, Ge-what?!" Now it was Phil's to be shocked. "It's a big difference Arnold! It's the difference between a self-centered, narcissistic psychopath like Lasombra and a selfless, very caring person like you!"

Arnold was dumbfounded by the comparison. He knew there was a big difference between someone like Lasombra and him, but he couldn't see how they would differ purely by the way they enjoy things.

Arnold responded. "I'm sorry Grandpa, but I just don't see it. If I am only helping people because there is something in me that I need to satisfy, that means I'm doing it for my own self-pleasure. I don't see that as anything different from Lasombra. If I am to really help people, you know, for their sake, I should not be doing it because it makes me feel good. Otherwise, I am not helping people for them, but for me. It just makes me selfish as Rodrigo claimed and I cannot accept that. There has to be something else."

"Oh boy Arnold." Phil said to him with a somewhat disappointed tone. "You still got a long way to go. But don't worry!" He then quickly said with an optimistic tone. "You still have 50-60 years to figure it out and I have faith in you."

"Uh, thanks Grandpa." Arnold somewhat awkwardly said to him as he wasn't sure if that was a compliment or not. "Anyways, I gotta get going. I've talked enough about Rodrigo for one day and I've got homework to do. Are my parents home?"

"No." Phil responded. "They went out job hunting again. Let's hope they can bring home some bacon this time."

"Yeah." Arnold said with a giggle. "Anyways, I'll be upstairs in my room if you need me." And with that, Arnold turned around to go upstairs.

"Take care, Shortman." Phil said to him with a salute. "And remember-"

"I know, I know." Arnold interjected. "Never eat raspberries."

"No!" Phil exclaimed. "I was going to say dinner's at 6pm. So pray your grandmother is cooking something decent tonight."

"Will do Grandpa." Arnold said as he waved while going upstairs.